A Prayer Book Advent
These words from Digitalnun are a quite beautiful reminder of the gift of Advent simplicity. There is a temptation to crowd the liturgy in Advent - to make it 'fussy', filling it with additional devotions or practices. Amidst the busy social and commercial demands of these weeks, however, it is the simplicities of the liturgy which can be most compelling
This is what we see in a Prayer Book Advent. Apart from the daily praying of the Advent collect, no additional devotions or practices crowd the liturgy. By contrast, consider the extensive provision and multiple options provided by the CofE's Times and Seasons for Advent. The concern here is not 'only' with aesthetics. The concern is also theological. A multiplication of texts and devotions can obscure the defining message of Advent. In the words of Fleming Rutledge:
Advent requires us to think about judgment, that theme we scorn and disdain and omit and gloss over throughout the year.
In a short season - three weeks this year - that theme of judgement is too easily pushed aside or overshadowed by the thematic approach of the Advent Wreath, or by the change in proper prefaces suggested by Times and Seasons on the 17th (with a new focus on forthcoming Nativity). Indeed, if the 17th marks the beginning of a new emphasis in the Advent season, the traditional contemplation of the Lord's judgement is then restricted to a mere two weeks.
On the other hand, precisely because we do need to be brought to focus on the theme of judgement, some distinctive liturgical content is required. So how can a Prayer Book Advent provide such content?
At the heart of a Prayer Book Advent is the majestic seasonal Collect, to be prayed each day "until Christmas Eve". The Collect in its reference to "the works of darkness" points to the cosmological symbolism of the dark December days; orients us towards the day of Doom, "when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty to judge both the quick and dead"; and renews in us the Christian hope, "that we may rise to the life immortal". This pronounced eschatological proclamation defines a Prayer Book Advent, ensuring that Advent is not neutered throught the centrality of other, more comfortable, less unsettling themes.
And in all this, a creative tension is maintained with reference to the forthcoming celebration of the Nativity: "now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility". That "now" will be echoed in the proper preface of Christmas: "born as at this time for us".
The absence of a proper preface for Advent (none is provided in 1662, Ireland 1926, PECUSA 1928, or Canada 1962) contributes to the liturgical simplicity of a Prayer Book Advent. Simplicity, however, does not mean empty. Without a seasonal proper preface, the words of the preface and Sanctus confront us afresh in Advent. Here is a foretaste of the Advent collect's "last day". Here the Lord's Advent is anticipated: "heaven and earth are full of thy glory". The preface and Sanctus is not, then, overshadowed by a seasonal proper preface. Rather, there are sung or said in the light of Advent.
The traditional Epistles provided for the Sundays of Advent in the Prayer Book tradition also encapsulate the season in a way that can be lost with the variety of readings in the three year lectionary - and, indeed, with three rather than two readings. The Prayer Book epistles, week by week, set before us the call of Advent - "the night is far spent", "to reign over the Gentiles", "until the Lord come", "the Lord is at hand". Having this consistent proclamation, given in short epistle readings - each containing pithy statements concerning the Advent of the Lord - ensures that the season's eschatological emphasis is not obscured.
inhabited and pervaded by the cold and mystery and woods and Latin liturgy.
To describe a Prayer Book Advent, we could change that final phrase to 'Cranmerian liturgy'. The simplicities of a Prayer Book Advent - amidst the cold and dark of "the year's midnight" - can bring us in a deeper way to be centred upon mystery of the Advent of the Lord, upon the need for a renewed eschatological hope in dark times.
(The first picture is George Shaw, 'The End of Time', 2008-9. The second is St Mary's, Lead, north Yorkshire, from the Churches' Conservation Trust.)
Latin still has its advocates in the Anglican milieu especially on the west coast in the USA. A Californian priest has translated the 1979 BCP into Latin, and elements thereof are used by The Advent in SF and S. Thomas, Hollywood. Stanford University occasionally offers Latin Evensong with English readings, from the 1662 book. S.Thomas in NYC often uses Latin hymns.
ReplyDeleteOf course one can always discern the influence of the Vulgate upon the true BCP and the KJV. How could Cranmer have avoided such an influence since he was exposed to it from his childhood?
Many thanks for the comment. Yes, the influence of the trad Latin rite on the BCP is obvious. And, of course, there is a cathedral tradition of occasional use of Latin for the canticles. There are also many Anglican parish choirs which sing Latin pieces, not least at Christmas. Such usage reminds us that we are part of the great tradition of the Latin West.
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